


Little Shop of Romance

by EpicNerd



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Has a Crush on Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng Fluff, Alternate Universe - No Kwamis, Bakery and Coffee Shop, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 10:22:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29434548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EpicNerd/pseuds/EpicNerd
Summary: Adrien loves visiting a bakery. Well, more specifically, he loves visiting a girl who works at a bakery.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 4
Kudos: 126





	Little Shop of Romance

“Very good! That’s it for today-“

“Thank you for the lesson, Nathalie! See you later!” Adrien exclaimed behind his shoulder as he ran out of the dining room, through the foyer, and out the front doors of the Agreste mansion.

Homeschooling lessons ran on longer than usual, and the boy was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to make it in time. He pulled his hoodie up over his head as he ducked into the subway station, for he certainly didn’t have time to be stopped by fans today. Barely managing to squeeze onto the train before the doors sealed, Adrien breathed a sigh of relief and checked the time on his phone.

“Yes! Still have time!” he whisper-yelled to himself.

He had a daily tradition to uphold, and he had no intention of letting the streak break just because his father’s assistant insisted on going over things until he had the entire text memorized and was able to recite it word-for-word.

Adrien put his phone away but kept his head down as he gripped the pole and fidgeted anxiously, willing the train to go faster. He wanted to look up to track how far they had already travelled, but he knew that his face would be recognized; it was splattered around Paris on a plethora of billboards and posters. Being the top model of his father’s own fashion brand could get a bit creepy at times if he wanted to take a stroll around the city.

But that didn’t matter now, as he was travelling out of the city to a small town that, to his delight, didn’t really seem to know who he was. Or, possibly, they just didn’t care as much as the Parisian citizens did. That’s not to say that he wasn’t appreciative of those who were fans of him and his father’s work. It’s more just that the attention can get overwhelming at times.

Adrien was so lost in thought that he almost missed his stop, and he had to duck through the doors again in order to not get stuck on the train. His feet barely connected with the platform of the station before he was running again, navigating the familiar path out of the station and into the light of day. Not nearly as many people were walking about as there were back in Paris, so Adrien really stuck out when he was running through the streets, but he didn’t care. All that mattered was getting there on time, especially today. He had finally worked up the courage to go through with what he had been wanting to do since the very first time he had walked into that bakery.

Skidding to a stop in front of the doors of the Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie, Adrien steadied his breathing and pulled back his hood. Smoothing his hair, he took on as calm of an expression as possible for walking inside, the familiar ding of the bell above the door welcoming him. Inside was the warm, cozy atmosphere that always had a sense of peaceful quietness no matter how loud it actually was. It always felt like shifting into a heaven-like, timeless dream, and he would never leave the shop if he could help it.

His eyes lit up when he saw who was serving a customer a bag of something that smelled delicious from behind the counter: Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the daughter of the couple that owned the shop. She was also the girl he had a major crush on.

Adrien waved to her when he caught her eye as he approached the counter, and she smiled and waved back.

“Hey, Stranger. I was starting to wonder if you were going to come in today.”

“Ah, you know how it is; superhero business can hold you up even if you have plans.”

At that, she giggled at their inside joke. It had started out the very first time he had come in. He hadn’t wanted to use his real name when she asked for it when placing his order, so he briefly panicked and his mind drew a blank of everything he could think of besides that he had seen a black cat on his way there. He told her that his name was Chat Noir, and she had jokingly asked if that was his superhero name.

“Ah, yes, of course. And what will you be having today, Chaton? Your usual, I presume?” Marinette asked, bracing her hands against the counter.

“Yes, please,” Adrien replied as he pulled out his wallet.

Marinette gives him his total, and he pays the amount in cash before being given the receipt. He takes it, melting inside when their fingers briefly brush against each other’s. He quickly stuffed the paper in his pocket before shuffling off to sit at an unoccupied table. Pulling out his phone, he pretended to scroll through an app as he frequently stole glances up at Marinette as she prepared his drink.

When the drink was done, she grabbed a croissant and a small plate to put the savory treat on. Carefully, she walked the two items over to Adrien’s table, placing the cup and plate down in front of him.

“One peppermint mocha and one croissant. Can I get anything else for you?”

“Well, I would ask for sugar, but it’s already right in front of me,” Adrien said boldly, blushing slightly.

He had occasionally flirted with her in the past, something he had no experience with prior due to having strict guidelines for how to properly interact with other people, and he always discreetly smiles in relief when she laughs or playfully rolls her eyes.

She had the latter reaction that day, but she pulls some sugar packets out of one of the pockets of her apron, regardless.

“How’d I know you were going to say something like that?”

She, to his bewilderment, quickly leaves after that rather than continuing their banter. Perplexed, Adrien bit into his croissant and looked down. That’s when he notices that something was written on one of the sugar packets. Picking it up, his eyes grew wide when he read the words ‘You’re pretty sweet, yourself.’

Looking up, he just barely caught a glimpse of Marinette whipping around to face away from him, and he saw that her cheeks were as red as his felt. Swallowing hard, he tried to calm his jitters by taking a deep sip of his drink.

‘You can do this, Agreste. You can do it!’

Standing up, his legs felt like jelly as he stumbled back up to the counter. Feeling awkward as he waited for Marinette to return, he leaned his arm on the counter and crossed his foot behind the other. When strumming his fingers against the surface doesn’t ease his nerves, he clears his throat. If he didn’t do this right then and there, he’d physically bolt out of the shop and run all the way home to hide under his blankets in shame.

Marinette turns her head and notices him standing there, and she nervously approaches the counter. Was Adrien mad? Was he going to file a complaint for harassment? Had she completely misread his friendliness as flirting?

“Did you forget something?” she asked, hoping that her voice wasn’t as nervous as she felt.

“Yes, I did, actually. I forgot to ask you…” he trailed off briefly before regaining his confidence, “for a date.”

“Oh! Uh, here,” Marinette fumbles, taking her phone out of her pocket and opening it, “Put your number in and I can...get back to you, I guess, about that date when my shift ends. Is that okay?”

Adrien takes the phone, putting his number inside a new contact. He couldn’t save it without assigning a name to it, and so he hesitated, thinking about it.

“Here you go. I’ll let you get back to work, now,” he says, handing the phone back and stepping out of the way of an approaching customer.

Marinette quickly glanced at the screen before closing the phone and storing it away. As she begins taking the next customer’s order, her brain processes what he saw. When she walked away to prep the order, she found the word tumbling out of her mouth at a soft whisper.

“Adrien.”

Her cheeks took on a rosy tint, and she found herself smiling as her heart raced. She would certainly have trouble concentrating for the rest of the day as she fought to keep herself from thinking about date possibilities until the bakery closed. She looked over at Adrien, and she sincerely hoped to be able to make him feel as happy as she was.


End file.
